The present application relates to an information processing apparatus that processes image information obtained by a microscope in a field of medicine, pathology, biology, material science, or the like, an information processing system having the image processing apparatus, and an information processing method and a program in the image processing apparatus.
In the field of medicine or pathology, there has been proposed a system that digitizes an image of a sample such as a cell, a tissue, an organ, or the like of a living body, that is obtained by an optical microscope, to examine the tissue or the like or diagnose a patient by a doctor or a pathologist on the basis of the digital image obtained. Generally, such a system is called a virtual microscope.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2009-37250 (hereinafter, referred to as Patent Document 1) discloses a method in which an image optically obtained from a slide sample which is placed on a stage of a microscope is digitized by a video camera equipped with a CCD (charge coupled device), a digital signal thus obtained is input to a PC (personal computer), and the image is visualized on a monitor. A pathologist performs examination or the like while watching the image displayed on the monitor.